Thermoelectric materials have many potential applications in engineering such as in
thermoelectric generators, waste heat recovery industry, thermoelectric cooling
devices. They can also be used in thermal protection system of supersonic space
shuttles to reduce their surface temperatures. On the other hand, multilayered
spherical shell structures are important structure type for thermoelectric material
applications. This paper presents a transient analysis model to predict the
temperature field and the associate thermal stresses in a laminated thermoelectric
spherical shell subjected to a sudden temperature increase on its outer surface. The
effects of applied electric current density, thermal conductivity and thickness of
laminated shells on the temperature and thermal stress distributions have been
obtained and shown graphically. Numerical results show that the maximum tensile
hoop stress in the laminated shells can be reduced significantly at a specific applied
electric current density. The thermal conductivity ratio of laminated shells
has significant impact on the maximum stress level in the shells. When the
thermal conductivity ratio of the inner layer to the outer layer increases, the
maximum tensile hoop stress increases but the maximum compressive hoop stress
decreases.
Keywords
thermoelectric material, laminated structure,
superconductor cable, high temperature, thermal stress,
thermal protection system
